Sadie Thompson

The e-book I have found for this learning activity is Hope for the autism spectrum [electronic resource] : a mother and son journey of insight and biomedical intervention. The author of this books is Sally Kirk. It was published by Jessica Kingsley out of London, Philadelphia in 2008, c2009. http://library.twu.ca/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/?ps=pDd8hy8duD/MAIN/16210070/9

The author, Sally Kirk, is a mother of a son who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. When her son was diagnosed, she took it upon herself to learn all that she possibly could about treatment and therapy for this disorder.

In this book, the author intended to share her family’s experience with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She intends to target other families who may be experiencing similar situations.The book provides a wealth of information on biomedical interventions for ASD. Her information is intended to target family’s, physiologists, practitioners and pediatricians who may be able to share the information with other families as well.

This book is published in 2008 and copyright in 2009. According to the Unit 2 notes, this follows the general rule that a source published within the last 10 years is up to date.

I found it more difficult to determine if the e-book is peer reviewed. I do not believe it is peer reviewed. You can find reviews of the book online, written by authors of other books on similar subjects and founders of recognized societies such as the Autism Society of America, and the Director of the Autism Research Institute.

The book may have biases in that it is a personal experience told from Sally Kirk. Her experiences may not be the same for others in similar situations.

This is an article that I found in my search in the Academic Search Complete database:

Exposures to Environmental Toxicants and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in U.S. Children (http://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:2152/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=dfb18b79-999d-4e90-a886-bd5ec14eef2b%40sessionmgr4006)

There are 5 authors for this article. They are Joe M. Braun, Robert S. Kahn, Tanya Froehlich, Peggy Auinger, and Bruce P. Lanphear. There credentials are as follows:

Joe M. Braun: College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA;

Robert S. Kahn: Division of General and Community Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA;

Tanya Froehlich:Cincinnati Children’s Environmental Health Center, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA;

Peggy Auinger: Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA;

Bruce P. Lanphear: Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York, USA

This article was published on December 1, 2006. According to the Unit 2 notes, a current article is one that has been published within the past 10 years. According to this general rule, this article would not be considered current.

The authors intentions in the publications of this journal were to study the effects of exposures to tobacco smoke and environmental lead with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In Clark and Creswell’s Understanding Research (2015), they discuss that intended audiences are usually found in the Introducation. (Clark and Creswell, 2015). Intended audiences for this research article are not listed, however they may include health practitioners, tobacco companies, advocates for prenatal health, pediatricians, ADHD specialists, and other audiences as well.

The article was published by Environmental Health Perspectives. Dec2006, Vol. 114 Issue 12, p1904-1909. This article is peer reviewed. I confirmed this by selecting the peer reviewed articles filter in my search.

The author does not acknowledge obvious biases within the article. They discuss and consider all angles and factors of their research. I believe this research is unbiased. The authors used rigorous statistical analysis and the sample size was significant. 

• What factors do you think shape your decision-making process as a leader?
  • I believe that the most influential factors in my decision-making process are my own personal values, policies that are in place, past experiences, and the knowledge and advice that I seek from people that are experienced and that I trust. When faced with decision making I first look to policy to see what I am professionally obligated to do. Then, I often make lists of pros and cons of the decisions I could make. These lists include the effects the decision will have on other people and whether or not it is true to my values and beliefs. When I am faced with difficult decisions, I often seek advice from people whom I trust. These people include family members, colleagues whom I know have been faced with similar decisions, and my administration team. All of these people are experienced and have valuable advice to offer.
• Do you agree or disagree with the proposition made in the course notes (by the authors) that one’s worldview influences the types of questions that you ask, and the processes that you use to find the answers to your questions?
  • I agree with the proposition that is made in the course notes that one’s worldview influences the types of questions that a person will ask. I experience this everyday in my profession. Young children ask questions based on their personal experiences and based on things that connect to their worldviews. They ask questions based on things that they have seen or experienced and that they want to know more about. People try to make sense of new information by connecting it to their own worldview to see how it fits in with their view.
• Close with one question that invites further comment and discussion.
  • Can our own worldview’s create a personal bias that would skew our research results? Would our reading, analyzing and research be stronger if our personal worldview’s were not a factor?

Research is something that I find to be challenging. In chapter one, Clark and Creswell discuss that research is sometimes the most difficult type of text for people to read because they are unfamiliar with the structure of research text and because it uses a type of language which is more challenging to comprehend. (Clark and Creswell, ). I find this to be true for me.

I did a little bit of research in my Bachelor of Education degree, however, I feel as though I need more practice and I look forward to learning to improve my research skills throughout this course. From chapter one and two, I have already discovered some strategies that might help me to break down the articles I am reading which allow me to better understand the research that is being presented.

A decision that I have made as a leader took place when I was acting principal of our school for two days. There is a student in our school who has a history of severe violence. During my time as acting admin, he had been given several chances and plenty of support to redirect his behaviour but his behaviour continued to escalate. I made the decision to suspend him from school for 5 days. I made this decision based on values, past experience and policy. These values included the safety of all staff and students that remained in the school and the need to provide other students with an environment in which they could learn. I also value an environment in which appropriate language is being used and an environment in which abusive behaviour towards staff is not tolerated. I also made my decision based on past experiences. I have previously had this child in my class and from experience, I know that his least successful times, are times that are high energy and times when normal routines are not in place. On the day that the incident happened, the students homeroom teacher was not present and there was a substitute in the classroom. It was also close to Christmas break and there were exciting things happening, such as Christmas concert practice, caroling and classroom games and excitement. This student does not function well when normal routines are not in place. Policy was also a factor in my decision.  Finally, as acting principal, I had the authority to make the decision to suspend him from school for 5 days.

After reading the required readings for this post, I am interested in researching more about this specific child. His needs are very complex and it would be beneficial for anyone dealing with him to read research that is strongly supported so that we can be more successful when interacting with him. The research would provide each individual with an increased knowledge base about students who face similar challenges and have similar needs as this child does.

References

Plano-Clark, V., & Creswell, J. (2015). Understanding research: A consumer’s guide (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.